Success in Hunting, Getting The Trophy Processed
Much time is spent describing the techniques involved in having a successful hunting trip. These include obtaining the right gun, outfitting them with the proper optics, stalking your trophy, etc. All of this banter is very important and I for one have learned a lot about hunting from reading these articles and discussing these hunting methods with fellow hunters. One topic that does not get a bunch of press is what to do once you have the animal down after the perfect shot. The reason it does not get discussed too much is because hunting the animal is great fun, processing the animal is flat out work!
A few questions to consider after you have your trophy down involve what your plans are for the animal. Are you going to have a taxidermist do a mount for it? Are you going to field dress it and drag it to the truck? Maybe you will have to quarter it out on the spot and pack it out. All of these questions are legitimate and have different answers, depending on the size of the animal, the proximity of the closest vehicle, and whether you can physically handle packing it.
Regardless of the plan you have for the animal, one thing will always remain constant for any of these situations. Whoever is taking care of getting the animal out of the woods and hanging it on the wall or processed competently in the freezer is going to have to have a sharp knife. Without one, the work involved in the meat processing task is multiply exponentially. Thankfully, a sharp knife is not nearly as difficult to obtain as most people may think. Lansky Sharpeners have developed their knife sharpening kits for people that are in need of getting a sharp knife and do not have the time to go to the knife sharpening shop to have it done. Their small kits contain 3 to 4 different stones and a multi-angle knife clamp that will allow you to have the proper angle when stoning your blade. The key to their sharpening system is the clamp that allows you to get the proper angle and maintain it; where as a simple steel does not hold your knife at the same angle, causing it to be not as easily sharpened.
There are plenty of other sharpeners on the market, but for ease of use and quality results, one of these Lansky systems cannot be topped. Even if you go out and buy a new knife right before your hunting trip, the edge that is put on in the factory will not maintain its level of sharpness near as long as what you get from the Lansky Honing stones. So when planning the next hunting trip, do not overlook the work involved after the fun is over, but make the work easier with a sharp knife.
